As
harmless as their intentions may
be, some wildlife
can be extremelydestructive
to your property.

The
Trapper Guy will come out and
humanely remove
the live animal
from your property and if possible,
relocate it.
I will fix the damage caused and
make preventative measures so
they won't return.

With
proper wildlife control
we can co-exist with our wild
neighbors.

*
24
hour services are for emergencies
only. Live animal in a living
area where safety of the occupants
is in question is considered an
emergency.

Pass-A-Grille
News

In Pass-a-Grille,
you can forget the bustle

By Jan Norris

Palm Beach Post Staff
Writer

Sunday, July 09, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG BEACH
- Sometimes, this is the worst job on
earth: Having to tell hundreds of thousands
of readers about a really great tiny
place for a retreat.

There's the reality
that the place will be unavailable the
next time I try to book it, or that
it will implode in its own success.

The boardwalk at Pass-a-Grille
provides a pleasant stroll from Island's
End Resort.

I don't want to see that happen here,
because I simply adore the quiet Island's
End Resort at the very tail end of St.
Pete Beach.

It's in the historic
district called Pass-a-Grille, where
houses and other buildings more than
a century old stand on tidy lawns, framed
by the Gulf of Mexico on one side and
the Intracoastal on the other. It's
a mostly residential community — a far
cry from its neighbors up the street,
St. Pete Beach proper, or Clearwater
Beach — which have become tourist bedlam,
with crowds on the beaches and traffic
jams.

Streets in Pass-a-Grille
are perfect for cycling or long walks.

At the resort, the group
of weathered wood cottages webbed by
a wooden deck throughout immediately
exudes feelings I used to get in Captiva.
It's a calming effect — and a sense
of old-Florida vacation beach life —
far, far from those madding crowds and
tacky cinderblock "condo-tels"
that have usurped most of the special
little places like this one.

After a stay on the
bustling north end of St. Pete Beach,
we arrived after the resort office had
closed, and found our cottage (half
a duplex) open and awaiting us. It had
a separate spacious bedroom, bath, and
full kitchen and a dining area, as well
as a sitting room with TV. Everything
was spick-and-span and modern — Pergo
floors, plush bath linens and the large
galley kitchen. The stained plywood-parquet
ceiling was intriguing.

Most of the cottages
accommodate two to six people, but there's
a separate three-bedroom cottage — great
for groups or families — with its own
pool and a view of the water.

The wooden deck connecting
the cottages leads to an ample sundeck
with chaise lounges. A second deck sits
behind the office with teak chaises.
The decks are framed with lush vegetation,
fanciful fountains filled with seashells
and a small pond where we saw frogs
swimming in what could only be frog
bliss. A bench swing with comfy cushions
looks over the Intracoastal side and
little private beach.

How could anyone not
find peace here? You're at the end of
the road, the end of the land. Off the
southern horizon is Fort DeSoto Park.
Off to the west, the wide gulf. The
east view is of Tierra Verde, a high-end
community of homes across the Intracoastal.

The resort's fishing
pier juts out into the choppy water.
Toss out a line and catch your own dinner.
A fish-cleaning table with hose nearby
tells you it's for the real thing, not
show. (You could arrive by boat, incidentally;
though large bumpers would be needed
since your boat would be exposed directly
to the channel.)

If you want to relax,
sit in the swing and contemplate the
waves lapping the pure white sand on
the crescent beach below.

There, you can lay out
on a lounge chair, or stroll for shells
— we found very nice specimens — though
you can't swim here. Fierce currents
in the channel leading to the gulf swirl
around the tip of the island and it's
deep within a few feet of the beach.

But a one-minute walk
will put you on the public gulfside
shore — Pass-a-Grille peninsula is barely
a block wide.

A jetty of concrete
boulders lines the southern end of the
beach where fishermen gather at night;
the beach is sparsely populated during
the day — the crowds tend to be north
of here.

We found a number of
swell little places to grab a bite,
including the Sea Horse, a breakfast-lunch
place, where the pecan pancakes were
some of the best we've eaten. A patio
is a good idea when it's cooler weather,
but you'll burn in summertime here.

Down the gulf road is
the infamous Hurricane. It used to be
a favorite hang-out when it was an open-air
bar serving cold beer and hot grouper
sandwiches. Now, it's just another tourist
attraction. The food's OK; the service
we'll call "spotty." Go for
drinks and maybe order an appetizer,
sit upstairs, and take in the main attraction
on this coast: the magnificent sunset.

Best idea: Get a pound
or two of steamed shrimp to go. Go back
to your cottage and stir up a pitcher
of margaritas. Take the shrimp and 'ritas
to the little fishing pier. Toss the
peels over the edge to the hungry fish
below and enjoy the drinks.

Forget the crowds and
forget you have a life elsewhere. Be,
as they say, in the moment where life
really is a beach.

Rates: Cottages from
$160 to $215 a day; $330 a day for three-bedroom
unit. (Note: Rates are quoted for two
guests per room; $20 a day charged for
additional people. Weekly rates available
for all. Four-night minimum for holidays.)

What to do: Fishing
pier on property; sundeck has chaise
lounges for use. A public beach is within
a 1-minute walk; restaurants within
five blocks. Boat excursions for shelling
or dolphin watching are available for
charter at the Merry Pier, about five
blocks away.